Date nights!

This year for Christmas I gave Christian 12 per planned, pre paid date nights. One for each month. Most of them are out, but a few of them will be at home. I am so excited about our time together. We have never "dated" very well and that is something we both really want to improve on. So we are!!!  We went on our January date last Friday:  dinner at Cane Russo and then Reunion Tower. We have talked about going to Reunion Tower for last 10 years and we finally went!  Such a great night together, thank you to the Blanchards for watching our little ones. 

Getting back into "life"

We have loved having Daddy home the past 2 weeks.  It's always a little crazy when we are out of normal for more than a week. Today we find ourselves re-establishing a more normal routine.  I am excited about this new semester and some of the changes we are implementing. Today there has been a little resistance getting back to school but once we got started it went well. Most days last semester were pretty messy and I felt like we did a bunch of running around. Today, I am thankful for a slow day at home. Here are a couple of H and P's creations

P's:  something about a jewel garden and if you steal the jewels you are never allowed to return. It is also a play park

H's:  city

You can tell which of them is the more imaginative 

For 2014, I am hoping to slow down more, relax (not the sit on the couch kind) more, and enjoy what the Lord has in store for us. 

Family pictures

While we were in The Woodlands and dressed up for the wedding, we stopped at a lake by my mom's house and took some pictures.  I love our family!!!!!

Thanksgiving

Parker had a little feast at school that the kids and I (Erin) went to.  I really enjoy watching her interact with her teachers and friends at school.  It's always so interesting!

We spent Thanksgiving at Christian's dad's.

 

 


Then we drove to The Woodlands for my cousin Kristin's wedding.  The kids were able to swim at my mom's gym.  We played at the park.  We took over the photo booth at the wedding.  We had a fantastic holiday week with so many things to be thankful for.  The Lord is good and we are thankful for all that He has done in our lives this year.

                                      

Happy 7th Birthday!

How can my oldest be 7 already!  We celebrated Hudson's birthday with friends at a park.  It was a beautiful evening and we were blessed to have friends celebrate with us.  Hudson felt very loved and really enjoyed all the time playing.

On his birthday we went around all shared a few things we love about him, here are some:  his passion, his love for reading the Bible, that he plays games with me, he shares and that he is a great big brother. 

Hudson, you are a fantastic son and a wonderful big brother.  You are passionate and loyal.  You love all things sports and games (slightly competitive).  You will read just about anything you can get your hands on.  Some of your favorites right now are: the Action Bible, Usborne's World History Encyclopedia, Magic Tree House and many others.  We are blessed to call you son.

4 Months!

Our littlest one turned 4 months on Nov. 10!  I can't believe how big she is getting.  Sweet Shi, you are full of joy, laughter and sweetness.  You are a fantastic eater and sleeper and you adore your 2 older brothers and your sister.

Gobble Hobble

Yesterday, Hudson and I ran the Gobble Hobble 5k. It was extremely cold and a bit drizzly, definitely not ideal conditions for Hudson to run his first 5k. He was so excited and I'm so glad this is something we were able to do together. 

It was a TOUGH race for him. I think this is the most challenging athletic activity he has ever had to push thru and I am so very proud of him. I was so blessed and encouraged by our time together. As we ran I was able to have conversations with him about perseverance, determination and the joy of finishing a difficult task. Other than playing soccer, he has only run with me a couple times and never more than a mile. 

He worked so hard to finish this race and he ended up getting 1st in the 8 and under age group. We are so excited about getting to do more of these in the future.  Way to go, Hud. We are so proud of you